


Bot Duty

by MarvelousMenagerie (HiddenOne)



Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2018 [7]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bot Feels, Fluff, Gen, With the Bots, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 04:31:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16967733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenOne/pseuds/MarvelousMenagerie
Summary: Bucky isn't cleared to be an Avenger yet, and so can't help the team respond to the threat against Tony. What Bucky can do, however, is a favor for Tony and watch over the bots.





	Bot Duty

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Tony Stark bingo square R1 'high school.' 
> 
> Thank you to rebelmeg for the cheerread!

It all happens so fast.

“You alright, Buck?” Steve stops and asks, but he already has one foot out the door.

Bucky jerks his chin at the door. “Go.”

Steve presses his lips together, but nods and leaves Bucky alone at the conference table.

Bucky slowly gets up from the armchair. The fact that he was allowed in on the quick conference call was only a courtesy - Bucky isn’t an Avenger, not yet. Still, it’s nice to be kept in the loop even if it doesn’t matter much. The other Avengers have already darted off, full of purpose and very busy.

Bucky still can’t even trust his own mind, not quite yet, and he’s not ready for the responsibility of keeping people safe, not like this. Bucky will happily take up a gun and shoot enemies when it comes to it, but this fight isn’t yet on a battlefield.

“Mr. Barnes,” JARVIS says, interrupting the silence. “I have a request from Mr. Stark.”

“A request?” Bucky questions, eyes on the ceiling even though Tony has told him that it isn’t necessary.

“Indeed. If you might find the nearest elevator, Mr. Stark will explain his request on the way.”

Bucky frowns but compiles, heading to the elevators.

Tony isn’t even at the Avengers Tower, hadn’t been present for the meeting. Tony _should_ be in hiding, actually, after the attack on him during his conference in Geneva, but JARVIS had connected Tony to the Avengers for a few minutes to strategize their response - and let Steve talk Tony down from going off alone.

Still, Tony should be as busy as the rest of the Avengers. What could he have to say to Bucky?

“Barnes, favor,” Tony’s voice plays from a recording, the words rapid-fire as the elevator takes Barnes down several floors. “DUM-E and U and Butterfingers, down in my workshop. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone and… well, I’ve put them through a lot and at least this time I have some advance notice. Anyway, I’ve always warned them that I’d give them to a community college but honestly high school is more their speed. Keep an eye on them for me, or they’ll get up to trouble. Thanks.”

When the elevator doors open, Bucky finds himself standing outside of Tony’s personal workshop. The glass walls reveal the tables and equipment beyond, as well as Bucky’s potential duty.

The bots.

Tony’s words replay in Bucky’s head. With Tony recording the message, it doesn’t seem like something that Steve would’ve put together last minute so Bucky would feel useful. Still, why do robots need watching?

And how did Tony find out about Bucky trying for his GED? Sam had been the one to help with that, and Bucky had sworn Sam to secrecy. Not even Steve knew.

Also did Bucky even want to babysit robots, even if this _wasn’t_ some toss away task to keep Bucky busy?

The Bucky Barnes from before the war would’ve jumped at the opportunity, he knows that. Now, after Hydra… Bucky is a little more cautious on future technology.

Bucky takes a deep breath before he walks into the workshop.

One of the bots immediately zips over to Bucky, a fire extinguisher in its one arm and pointed to shoot.

“Whoa, whoa!” Bucky says, his left arm out in defense. His right goes for a knife, just in case, though it won’t be much use against a metal robot.

“Mr. Barnes is a friend of Sir’s!” JARVIS interrupts. “Cease this foolishness immediately!”

The robot stops but doesn’t lower it’s weapon. The arm tilts, and Bucky sees the camera that’s trained on him. Bucky slowly slides his knife back into its holster, but keeps his metal arm out and ready to defend himself.

“Mr. Barnes, I apologize on behalf of DUM-E. As Sir mentioned, he gets up to trouble when Sir isn’t around to keep an eye on things. DUM-E, Mr. Barnes is a friend and not to be harmed,” JARVIS explains.

“Hi,” Bucky greets cautiously, lowering his arm. “I’m Bucky.”

The fire extinguisher slowly lowers, the camera tilting to the side even more.

“DUM-E does not have voice capabilities,” JARVIS says. “Neither do Butterfingers or U, who are both better behaved than this one here.”

DUM-E squirts the fire extinguisher at the floor and then whirls off to a far corner of the lab.

“And yet they make themselves heard anyway,” JARVIS says with what might pass for a sigh of electronic static.

“Looks like it,” Bucky says with a small, growing smile.

Despite the atmosphere of the workshop, with all the tools and equipment and machines around, it’s the pre-War Bucky Barnes that’s at the forefront of his mind now. Excitement at what technology can do - robots! And while Bucky has been told about JARVIS and how groundbreaking artificial intelligence is, DUM-E and U and Butterfingers are what Bucky used to picture back when he read those dime store science fiction novels.

And here they are, robots that whirl around and work on their own machines.

Robots that carry fire extinguishers as weapons and zip off in a huff when insulted.

“Can I just take a seat over there?” Bucky asks as he gestures to the couch. “I can work on some of that GED stuff, if that’s alright. Keep an eye on things.”

“That would be most appreciated,” JARVIS says with what Bucky thinks is relief. “And yes, the couch is fine. Any one of us will be sure to warn you against unsafe areas.”

Bucky takes a seat and then uses the holograms to pull up some of the paperwork for his high school level chemistry class. It’s so far beyond what Bucky had learned back in his own high school decades ago that Bucky can’t even picture college. Math had been easier, not too much had changed except the expectation to know _more_. Clint had helped explain a few points there, with math, though Bucky hadn’t told Clint why he was asking.

When DUM-E whirls over, camera peeking over Bucky’s shoulder, Bucky grins.

“You want to help me with this? Though maybe physics is more your speed. I’ll do that part next.”

The bot zips around in a quick circle, then races off and back again. There’s something in DUM-E’s claw, and Bucky holds out a hand when DUM-E reaches out.

A pencil drops into his palm.

“Huh. Guess even the tech-future still has some old-fashioned things laying around. Thanks,” Bucky says as he tucks the pencil offering into his pocket. It makes him feel a bit better, this pencil offering from a robot that Tony probably build when Tony was in high school. Not even Tony Stark was truly above pencils and paper, even though Bucky did love the ease of the holograms.

DUM-E rocks forward and back, then tilts his camera.

Bucky reaches out slowly and, when DUM-E doesn’t back away, gently pats the bot’s support strut. Maybe babysitting the robots while the rest of the Avengers are away isn’t so bad. Maybe Bucky will even thank Tony at the end of it.

Bucky smiles into DUM-E’s camera. “I don’t suppose you want to help me balance this chemical equation, do you?”


End file.
